TECHNICAL
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TeCHNICAL
paoLo
FiLiSETTi
Technical
Editor
even if it is the first of the last
four ‘flyaway’ races of the season,
meaning that at this stage of the
season the development of the cars
should be considered almost done,
the united states GP in Austin in
reality provided an interesting array
of development bits on the cars.
Some were changes not even
intended to be used in this race, but
rather were being tested in light of the
next race in Mexico – a high-altitude
venue.
This was the case for the Mercedes
which, on Friday practice, sported
a significantly revised engine
cover, featuring two side ‘ears’ (see
illustration). These were, in detail,
two additional engine air intakes
that will be used in the next race,
with the aim of reducing the loss
in efficiency terms of the Power
Unit. It is important to explain
that, unlike normally aspirated
engines, turbocharged engines suffer
dramatically less in terms of power
loss due to the high altitude of Mexico
City. This is because, with the turbo, it
is possible to increase the air pressure
to feed the engine – but if this is
increased too much there is a loss in
terms of energy recovery by MGU-H.
Improving the air feed by adding the
two additional inlets helps in avoiding
the aforementioned problem, hence
assuring adequate energy recovery in
the very special ambient condition of
the Mexican track.
Beside this interesting new design,
almost all the teams focused on aero
developments, even though mostly
intended as adapting their set-up to
the features of this track.
Of particular interest was the
development of the aero package
of Ferrari. The Italian team brought
a series of small developments
both in the area of the bottom, the
T-tray and, in particular, a deeply
developed version of the front wing
(see illustration). This one is a high
downforce version, but it also sported
some new elements in the form of
the addition of a wide curved upwards
fin, having the aim to divert outward
the turbulence generated by the front
tyres close to the endplates.
Furthermore, the upper flaps now
have a rounded trailing edge and sport,
as in the Hungarian GP version, two
vertical fins dividing their profile in
three section, so as to divert outside
the airflow close to the endplates and
generate a low pressure behind these
elements.
It was interesting to note on the
starting grid that these solutions were
almost common to three other teams,
notably Mercedes, Red Bull and
McLaren, making it clear how tight
the current boundaries of the design
process are in terms of aero solutions
on the current cars. This means that
the in-season development naturally
heads to common solutions, as only
a single design route is possible, with
the simulation showing converging
results. This is visible in all the areas
of the car.
In Sochi, we were talking about
Ferrari’s revised undertray, featuring
a series of slits in front of the
rear wheels. Here, another team
followed the steps of the Italian
team – McLaren introducing a similar
solution, that only differs from the one
featured on the SF15T regarding the
number of slits. The Ferrari featured
eight slits; McLaren on the other
hand increased that number, sporting
an array of 11 slits that produce an
effect of improving the extraction
from underneath the car and diverting
the turbulence generated by the rear
wheels out of the rear diffuser side
sections.
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GPWEEK.com // 35
GPWEEK.com //
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